FeelUnique.com recently commissioned an infographic based on studies around how and why women buy their beauty products. I think it tells us what’s been staring us in the face (and certainly if you follow the beauty industry, it’s been blaringly obvious for years) – that women don’t trust celebrity beauty endorsements. They trust other women!
At the same time, L’Oreal has put in place a manifesto to include using more ‘real’ women rather than celebrities – along the same lines as Dove. They’ve got a cringey video to ram home the point that it’s #beautyforall. I could nearly cry for them at how wrong they’ve got it – two minutes of really, really slim and beautiful women (okay, there is some multi-ethnicity in the mix) and a few ruggedly handsome and buff men, and literally 2 seconds of an older couple. It’s so mind blowingly removed from the very thing they’re trying to portray. They just can’t quite brave the thought that real women are not always ‘classically’ beautiful, don’t spend their lives running in white gauzy clothes across beaches or regularly stare wistfully at sunsets through a well-mascara’d eye. It’s HERE.
And yet, real women WORK at L’Oreal. You know, the ones like us, with shadows under our eyes, a spot or two, a few extra pounds where we don’t really want them, and dreadfully frizzy hair when it rains. It’s not like there isn’t any real woman reference to draw from even if the creatives never set foot outside the doors of L’Oreal. Pretend real women isn’t the same as actual real women.
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The FeelUnique infographic also picked up on something that is a personal interest of mine – the emotional connection that women have with brands and products. It’s crucial. Bloggers instinctively know how to connect emotionally – because they’re, er, real women, really using the products and really loving or loathing them. They’re the embodiment of emotional connections with beauty.
85% of American women don’t trust celebrity endorsements. That’s a lot. Ads using celebrities find them only 2% more enjoyable than those that don’t. Tell that to Chanel and the $6.5 they paid Brad Pitt to be the first male face of Chanel No.5. It’s maybe something to note that if you are super-successful as a blogger or YouTuber these kind of stats are a warning to keep it very real and not tip over into the current perception of celebrity. Maybe.
61% of blog readers have bought on recommendation (as opposed to 33% of Facebook users and 31% of Twitter users). And here’s us, not skipping skinnily across a sand dune but still taking the lions share in influencing the world of beauty and economy. For the record, according to the infographic, blogs are x2 more likely to have influenced a beauty purchase than magazines. And there are a hell of a lot more blog views than there are magazine readers.
If you ever have a moment’s hesitation that your blog isn’t part of something very special or that what you’re doing isn’t being noticed, check over those stats again, have a little giggle at the #beautyforall campaign and realise that as a real woman (or man) you’re holding the world of beauty in your hands.
Transparency Disclosure
All products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.
21 comments
Completely agree. It’s like an alternative reality with most marketing of brands – and it’s not just throwing money at celebs for ads that don’t work but also not even targeting the right groups – for example in this country the over 50s make up the majority spend on travel and tourism but very few brands target ‘older adults’. Equally older women spend a lot on beauty products but are rarely targeted authentically. Great post x
Such an inspiring read Jane, thanks for sharing!
Fantastic post! hope you dont mind me sharing the infographic
thanks for sharing x
As a consumer and now very happy blog reader I completely relate to these findings. What my favourite bloggers and YouTubers say directly influences how I look at products and what I buy. Keep up the excellent work Jane xx
I think that the L’Oreal advert is very beautiful and it’s great that they’ve included people of all ages and cultures but, yeah, it’s very clear that they are all models and that that isn’t ‘real’ life.
I definitely take more notice of bloggers’ recommendations than I do of stuff I see in magazines, because it’s nice to know that that person has actually tried and thought about the product. That’s why I don’t like blogs that don’t have a bad thing to say about any brand or product because it just doesn’t seem truthful!
Suzanna
macinmybackpack.blogspot.com
I know without a doubt I trust a blogger’s review of a product than any airy fairy ad from L’Oreal(or any other brand), and their airbrushed who ever.
Celeb endorsements, just P*ss me off more than anything else. You know for a fact they never use the products and are given them by the lorry load and just give away. Or even sale on Ebay.
I quite liked the early L’Oreal “because I’m worth it” ads but then we all learnt what a strap line was and everyone had one. Perhaps a sign of how succesful that initial campaign was. L’oreal’s website is disappointing. They would be better off spending some money on decent unphotoshopped swatches.
I don’t watch TV and rarely buy magazines, and I block advertising on the web. I vaguely know who most of these celebrities are, though in many cases I’ve no idea why they’re celebrated!
But I do read a lot of blogs, and that’s where my information comes from. It’s not difficult to spot thinly-disguised press releases and I take them with a pinch of salt. Blogs like yours, where products are evaluated in the real world by an unbiased user, are invaluable. Thank you for this excellent post!
My choices in products really are what my favourite bloggers recommend. Celeb endorsement does nothing for me.
I want to know what a real person that’s not getting paid for their endorsement feels.
I wonder if it was split into ages if that would differ? I’m guessing my age group (I think we are very similar in age jane) probably would make choices based on blogs. Yet our parents generation? Though to be fair my Mum is very loyal to her brands.
Would younger people (say under 21) be more influenced by celebs?
The logic within the massive multinational brands like L’Oreal about only using traditionally beautiful and youthful women to represent their products will be that they need to maintain their brand image of glamour and keep the ‘brand equity’ that they have built up over years and years (and millions of dollars) of marketing.
It’s a big part of the challenges of New Media to be able to incorporate the real world into marketing and branding. And massive multinationals like L’Oreal are big behemoths – it takes a long time for them to respond – like an oil tanker. And they are never going to become genuinely customer-centred, no matter how hard they try to convince us of that.
They’d be best off genuinely reflecting their company and getting involved with blogger culture in different ways. Thinks like improving their swatching – as Trimperley suggests – would be a small but important improvement. As would a greater involvement with bloggers and a more open approach to things like press releases – because bloggers don’t want the same information as newspaper journalists. Your readers are often beter-educated about the ins-and-outs of beauty, skincare and/or fragrance and want to know more about the ingredients and performance of products.
I feel like I’m almost in a minority here when I say that I don’t generally trust bloggers, as a whole. They inform me of new launches, they can show me swatches, they can give a few lines about how they feel a product performs, is packaged, whatever. And yet I see so, so many with shady non-disclosure policies that it’s made me entirely distrustful of them as a group. I much prefer to look at reviews online, like those on http://www.makeupalley.com (which in themselves aren’t immune to bias) than trust a blogger.
I don’t mean to sound so negative – I follow a huge amount of blogs that I enjoy and I realise there are many bloggers that do a great job. I’ve just become cynical after seeing one too many ‘non-sponsored’ posts and blogs in which every single post contains an affiliate link. It feels like several don’t post just because they like a product anymore. It’s purely for financial gain.
Love this post. Love reading blogs that keep it real & post about products they don’t like as well as those they do. One top blogger (not mentioning names) absolutely loves every product she is sent to review. It’s started to get a little repetitive and it’s such a shame as she has a great writing style and seems like a lovely person. As a beauty lover I love lots of products but can distinguish between those that I think are holy grails, those that are great, those that are ok and those that don’t really do a good job. Keep up the realism of your blog
I’ve stopped buying magazines and rely solely on blogs for new product recomendations. With a blog it’s so easy to suss out the honest from the not-so-honest and it I can also gather a quick consensus before buying a product. http://www.clementinebuttercup.blogspot.co.uk
I completely agree with survey results, I don’t even own a tv but I love reading and enjoy blogs. I also love youbtube and follow a lot of women on there, however that could end up as bad as the adverts. It is blatantly obvious a lot of the reviewers now are being sent freebies to promote, not talking about actual bloggers but all the young women with huge numbers of followers who are making a living at it. Those annoy me so I don’t watch, it is a new celeb culture and we will all pay for it in the long run.
I am sure that most people do not trust celebrity endorsement but it does make them notice the advert and perhaps this is enough, both for the companies and the public. Merely to get the buying public to notice something nowadays amongst the sea of newness very day that swamps us everywhere is perhaps what they are after? Then a lot of people make a sort of random purchase without thinking because they have seen it somewhere. The thing is that not everyone cares enough to read product reviews of any kind anywhere and this is what makes the big brands continue to use this strategy. What do you think?
Saying “It’s ridiculous to use celebs in ads” because consumers say they’re not influenced by celebrities, is a far too easy shortcut, that masks the complexity of the topic and, at the same time, also underlines beauty marketer’s supposed stupidity.
The point that Valerie makes about “noticing” is key: consumers are so overwhelmed with ads that cutting through and getting consumers’ attention is already a big win. It is also a great PR story – the number of editorial and blog content generated about brand X now working with celebrity Y is huge.
Additionally, I think it’s very easy to answer “No, I am not influenced by celebrities” in an online questionnaire. I used to work for a very expensive skincare brand 4 years ago. The minute a cheap celeb magazine published a snippet about celebrity Z (who we were not paying to endorse yes) saying she loved our £35 lip balm, we went out of stock in all of London counters.
Finally, while it’s not healthy to only show size 0 models with excessively airbrushed skin, the beauty (and fashion etc) industry is about selling aspiration and inspiration, excitement and dreams. I personally find the Dove ads cool, but not inspiring at all.
Agreed! It’s such a shame, because I love L’Oreal, but this video is really silly… They’re gorgeous models! I definitely prefer the Dove one where real people, warts and all, are used to reach out to everybody instead of making us feel like we need to strive to be beautiful because at L’Oreal’s standards, I’m definitely not!
http://www.ceejayell.blogspot.co.uk
I am much more likely to go with a blog recommendation than a celebrity endorsement anytime, I like knowing that someone who is an everyday kinda person has been there, tried it, liked it, hated it, couldn’t stand it or even worse…
Even if the review is negative, if I like the sound of it, chances are I will want to try it x
This is fascinating. As a 38 year old woman, I don’t trust many beauty bloggers much more than I trust magazines or adverts – partly because I’m looking for products that many 20-something beauty bloggers won’t be talking about. The one exception to this, is your blog. I have bought several items (and not just wrinkle creams 😉 )based on your review, and each time been really happy with them. I trust your judgement and honesty. And it does help that you’re a grown up, not a teenager…!
This is so interesting, and confirms what you’v been saying all along! =D
Gem x | flutter and sparkle
It’s ultimately about knowledge – customers are more likely to commit to spending money based on the advice and recommendation of someone who knows what they are talking about rather than someone with no opinion but a pretty face. I don’t want to look like any of the women who are used to advertise beauty products and I have never, ever believed that other women do either. Now we’ve got the proof, thanks to FeelUnique and a smart and game-changing piece of research.